This invention relates generally to games, and more specifically to an educational game which teaches and reinforces information regarding a variety of objects; both animate and inanimate, and which is readily adaptable to be played as a "card" game.
Card games are extremely popular with both adults and children. Many of the games are extremely convenient to play, because they do not involve the use of other objects, such as dials, dice, boards, etc.
One card game which has been popular for years, is the game of "war". In that game a conventional, 52-card deck of playing cards is dealt, with the cards face down, to two or more players. After all of the cards have been dealt, each player turns his or her top card over, exposing the "value" of the card. The player having the highest card value wins the other players' cards.
If two or more players expose cards having the same value, a "war" is declared between (among) those players. To determine the winner of the war, each of the players participating in the war places one or more cards (most commonly two cards) face down, and then an additional card face up. The participating player with the highest additional face-up card wins the war, and if that card also is higher than the face-up cards of the other players, then he or she wins all of the other players' cards in that particular round. If the additional face-up card of a participant in the war either is the same value as the additional face-up card of another participant(s) in the war, or is the same value as one of the other players, then a second war exists. This second war, and any subsequent wars, are "fought" in the same way as described above with respect to the first war. Play proceeds until one player has one all of the playing cards from the other players.
The game of war has achieved such a high degree of popularity that patterning educational games in a format similar to "war" is an effective way of providing an educational experience for the players; both children and adults. It is to such a game that the present invention relates.